The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Thursday 29 March 2018

Feather your Nest Friday, 30th March, 2018.

This week was an Autumn cleaning blitz and easy cooking week!  The weather has changed to cool at night.  It is so nice and helps me sleep well.  The days are beautiful.  I had started organising and cleaning a couple of weeks ago and I just kept going!   Because I had made lots of meals for the freezer and pesto last week we used things up and had a week of super easy dinners.

I did cook sausage rolls.  I made 48 large sausage rolls then cut these up and they were a dinner, lunches and lots for the freezer.  Since one sausage roll is $3.80 at the bakery this is where making your own is a huge saving.

During the week I gave the inside of my car a good clean out.  It is all shiny and clean and fresh.  Plus organised... I keep first aid, water,  a blanket, walking shoes, torch (flashlight) and all sorts of things in the car. In winter also a coat.  This all needs refreshing now and then.

Finally my craft cupboard is done!  There is no way I am showing you before photos!  They are the stuff of blackmail lol   but now my chaos is sorted and I have something to store things in.
They are all labelled and I have lots of good supplies for my projects.


I started this weeks ago and it took ages.  I mainly use the "a few minutes each day" method until finally it all adds up!


I quite like looking and admiring it now! 

The batteries were in several places and I found a little chest of drawers and sorted them all into types so they are all in one safe place now.  We could power South Australia I think!


I sorted through my makeup and this was a big job!  


And jewellery...


This means my whole dressing table is made over too! 

Cleaning and organising seems to have a domino effect and just goes on and on once you get started.

I cleaned windows...


I even cleaned the vacuum cleaner.  I took it apart and washed the filters and cleaned out everything.   When you clean the vacuum cleaner you are the vacuum cleaner!

As I won't see the girls on Easter Sunday I snuck around there yesterday and hid Easter eggs in the front garden.   Then I gave Harper a little basket and we went egg hunting!  She caught on fast and loved it!  There were even eggs in the letter box! 


Scarlett is too little for chocolate so she got bunny ears...


Andy had a good week and saved $520!  He has more savings lined up as he plans to trim the back hedge which is quite a big job.   We had this done professionally once so we know the cost there.

March is almost over!  It was a good and busy month.  I was reading Patsy's report of what she achieved during the month over at A Working Pantry.  This made me think about just how much we can achieve in one month.  If we set some goals we can achieve a lot!   So now I am thinking about goals for April.

How did you build up your home, save or get ahead this week?

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter.   Easter Sunday is also the end of daylight savings for us and the first of April, all on one day!   

It is good to look back over the month and the week!  I am better for it.  I am off now to make chocolate fudge slice the weekend. xxxx






42 comments:

  1. Annabel, I like the idea of storing batteries in the plastic chest of drawers. I think I have one that I can repurpose! Thanks for the idea! Happy Easter!

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    1. Dear Patsy, Now I can see what I heave heaps of and what I have few of... this is heaps better. Also I found out many now will last ten years or so and I thought it was much less... so Im glad of that. I also have the little round electronic ones etc and something for everything. In the power outages the big sizes sold out first like the Ds. They also took weeks before they came back in. So I stocked up! Happy Easter to you too! With love, Annabel.xxx

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  2. Hi Annabel and Bluebirders,
    Love your organised jewellery and makeup drawers - I notice a bit of a theme with your beautiful pearls :-). Great idea for the batteries. We have ours in a plastic container (so all in the one place), but not sorted according to size ... doh! why didn't I think of this, I'm always hunting for the 9v ones for the smoke detectors. NB. when daily savings changes, it's time to replace the batteries in the smoke detectors.

    The egg hunt was a hit. Harper looks like she's having a great time. We also won't be seeing our grandchildren until after Easter, so our egg hunt is on hold.

    It must have been an organizing/cleaning week. We needed to replace our bedroom suite (it was damaged beyond repair during our ensuite/bedroom renovation a couple of years back and we've been 'making do') so it was a complete cleanout. We also replaced our 30+ year old venetion blinds, that had seen much better days, throughout the house. I'm really pleased with the new look and we were able to maximise our savings by buying the blinds online and installing them ourselves - saved 75% by DIYing.

    Have a blessed Easter, everyone,
    Janine

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    1. Dear Janine,
      Yes... I love pearls! The battery system is a big help already, I can see what I am low on and what I have a ton of!
      Wow you have done a lot of upgrading and renovations! This all would feel like a spring clean too! It feels so nice! What a saving too!
      Have a wonderful Easter. I hope you get your Easter with the Grandchildren soon. Sometimes this spreads out the excitement for them too! With love, Annabel.xxx

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  3. Annabel you achieved so much. The cleaning bug must be around at the moment. I didnt do much beyond the normal inside but got stuck into the outside.
    We have a 20' sea container behind the shed. This is my gardening shed and holds all the machinery for the garden. It also has the tiling and painting gear in it. The container had become a dumping zone and I was no longer able to get in and out. It was clean out and rearrange time. There wasnt a lot that needed to be thrown out but the items did need to be stored like with like. This is done and it is now a useful space once more.
    From the container I progressed to the veranda. I pressure cleaned it from end to end. All pot plants were moved and those needing refreshing had this done. The back of Bluey's Cruiser ute was fall of plant offcuts, brom pups surplus to requirement and general accumulated rubbish. This all went to the tip.
    The garden has been getting a massive overhaul, with things being removed, moved, trimmed, transplanted, planted and seeds put out.
    Today I have baked a flourless chocolate cake with nutella mouse, raspberries and honeycomb. Will send a photo. This is for dessert after our seafood luncheon today.
    Have a safe and Blessed Easter. Life is brilliant.

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    1. Dear Jane,
      Sometimes you have shared some of your cleaning blitzes with me or on fb and I am always insured! It does feel so good! Pressure cleaning is awesome! Everything is so fresh. So we must have been bitten by the same bug I think!
      The flourless cake sounds beautiful! I need to try a flourless chocolate cake... this would suit me.
      Have a beautiful day and lovely Easter. Your "Life is...." comment is your gauge... like if brilliant is the best yet I think! This is so good to hear! With much love, Annabel.xxx

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  4. What a productive week Annabel, makes your heart sing inside! Yes it is truly glorious weather. Wishing you a Blessed Easter for your family. Enjoy the extra hour of sleeping in. Regards Robyn S.A.

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    1. Dear Robyn, Thank you! You have a wonderful Easter too! Yes an extra hour in bed is a good idea! This really heralds the beginning of the winter months to me!
      This weather suits me. I really love it. Good for sleeping. You are right, it is so nice to get things done and accomplished it does make your heart happy! With much love Annabel.xxx

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  5. I get a great satisfaction out of getting jobs completed, you have done a marvellous job. I liked your bread article on GF bread using sourdough, well done. I have just sat down and devoured 3 hot cross buns from the oven (homemake, sourdough and very fruity). I did an hour at the gym earlier this morning so a tasty end to a perfect morning. Spoken to my children, exercised, feed the ginger beer starter, packaged up the spaghetti sauce and beef broth to freeze and now sitting back eating buns with coffee and enjoying your blog.
    Have a safe Easter. Erin

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    1. Dear Erin, I love hot cross buns! What a beautiful morning you had. Thank you for your kind comment. Have a wonderful Easter and good break. With love Annabel.xxx

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  6. Hello Annabel and fellow bluebirds :).

    Wow you have got so much organising done Annabel and it looks so pretty and organised. I have also ordered some chalk pens and larger labels for our 10lt food storage containers and when the chalk pens arrive I will label the smaller food storage containers in the kitchen with them (thank you :) ). Another congratulations to Andy are in order for his savings too.

    Very busy week here this week and our Vicky challenge added up to $1833.17 in savings.

    Here is what we did to feather our nest and save this week -

    Financial -
    - Banked more money into our home deposit account bringing us to 24.36% of the way there.

    Trading -
    - A friend gave us 14 lemons for a future trade for silver beet that is growing in our gardens saving us $9.10 over purchasing it.
    - Another electrician friend came out and adjusted our hot water system temperature for free saving us $70 over hiring an electrician to do it.

    Home Organisation -
    - Restocked kitchen pantries from our stock room with tinned fruit, diced tomatoes, corn and mushrooms and checked the amounts used were written on our perpetual shopping list for our next shop.

    In the kitchen -
    - Cooked all meals and bread from scratch.
    - Washed, diced and boiled the last of the 2 pumpkins we had in storage and made 6lts of pumpkin puree for the freezer for meals put in upcycled washed out 2lt ice cream containers.
    - Saved the seeds from the pumpkins for our seed stocks and some to sell on the internet.
    - Processed our dried herbs picked and drying from the gardens making 70g of sage and 55g of thyme saving $13.88 over purchasing it. We are saving some for our own use and some to sell on the internet.

    Food Purchases -
    - We purchased a new pull cord mechanism for our whipper snipper and DH installed it saving $95 over having it repaired in the repair shop.

    - Purchased 2 x 2lt BBQ sauce on 50% off special and 5 bottles of deodorant on 25% off special and coupled this with using our 5% off roadside assist club discount to save $14.93 in total.

    Other purchases -
    - Purchased 2 flannelette shirts and 3 web belts for DH saving $45.90 on usual prices in other local stores.

    In the garden -
    - Harvested the last 25 of our cucumbers from the gardens saving $62.50 over purchasing them in the shops. We used them for juices and lunches.
    - Purchased 3 cubic metres of each cow and horse manure for the gardens saving $1120.70 over buying it by the bags in the local gardening centre.
    - DH and I spent 8 hours spreading and ploughing the manure in in layers saving $407.36 over hiring a gardener to do it.

    Usual things savings -
    - Used grey water to water the lawns all week, supplement watered our seedlings in the gardens with rain water from our tanks and only turned on our electric hot water system when necessary.

    Have a fantastic week ahead everyone.

    Sewingcreations15.

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    1. Dear Sewingcreations,
      Wow you had a record breaking week I think! And your deposit is looking very healthy!
      I cant believe the savings on buying manure over the bags sold at the garden and hardware stores... but I can believe it actually as I look in our garden centre and little bags of various fertilisers (many of which are just poo lets face it lol!) and they are so expensive for so little!
      All this will benefit your garden so much! Your garden is a big part of your savings and also health I would say. One day I would really love it if you took photos as over the weeks I am building up a picture here and I always think how I would like to see this all! And it makes me feel how I want to be running a bigger veggie garden too and how exciting that would be. Plus fruit trees too of course.
      Your savings on the hot water service and the whipper snipper were great too.
      I have a craft you might really like coming up I hope next week... Jane sent it to me and it is so up your alley with the seeds! And very saleable too I am thinking...
      I hope you have a wonderful Happy Easter. With much love Annabel.xxx

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    2. Annabel I shall start taking some pictures for you of the gardens so you can see them now we have some vegetables, herbs and berries growing in them after the heat just about decimated everything :).

      Thank you for your encouragement it is as always wonderfully uplifting.

      Happy Easter to you Annabel and also all other bluebirds too.

      Sewingcreations15.

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    3. Dear Sewingcreations, I hope you had a lovely Easter! I am so exited about the photos thank you! I know others will be waiting to see and also you have built your garden up really economically and this is helpful to know how it can be done! With love Annabel.xxx

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  7. Another great week for the Bluebirds, especially you, Annabel! I laughed at being the vacuum cleaner when you're cleaning the vacuum cleaner...lol...lol! I still remember the Easter Egg hunts of my own childhood so I'm sure you've created happy memories for Scarlett and Harper. I made the most enormous pile of flannelette hankies for gifting for Easter, thanks to your inspiration. They'll be gifted along with germ killer essential oil spray. This is for the adults of course. I bought Queen size flannelette sheets in the prettiest mint colour, on sale at Spotlight, and so far, I've cut 24 out, and I'm still going on the first sheet! I also bought patterns in yardage of flannelette. Unicorns for the granddaughters, bohemian feathers for the girls, and white with grey stag print for the guys. These look amazing stacked with the mint ones in between, and tied with enormous bows. As you suggested in your original post on flannelette hankies, I washed the fabric first, and it's just so beautiful and soft. You are so clever, as I would never have thought of doing this until you suggested it. I'm adding luxury chocolates (well really generic 70% cocoa dark chocolate in DIY customised packaging by me!), and the germ killer sprays. Other than that, I've washed all the linens, a real task in our unpredictable weather at the moment, deep cleaned the lounge, and had a big bake-up for Easter. So all in all, a very productive week. It's always fun to tally up tasks and savings. Love, Mimi

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    1. Dear Mimi,
      I have eyed flannelette sheets on special as the price is working out cheaper per meter overall than you can buy it off the roll! This can be a great deal! With our Easter being Autumn we have always done winter themed gifts, slippers, hot water bottle, scarves and hats, pjs and so on. I always loved this!
      Anyway... the hankies and germ killing sprays are wonderful gifts. A friend in the US wrote to me last night... her family have just had the really bad flu. They have been so ill and knocked so hard. She was shocked... and they are struggling to recover. This is a timely reminder. I hope this year is not so bad for us but I dont know...
      I also washed throw rugs this week and forgot to mention it! Fresh and clean they are lovely.
      You had a very productive week. Have a beautiful Easter and a break! With much love, Annabel.xxx

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    2. They are now saying that we are in for another round of the flu here in yhe US and that this time it could be worse. It has warmed up some so hopefully being able to be outside and open windows will slow it down. There are also some really horrible strains of the common cold around. We got one that went straight into a bad cough after a few hours of a bad sore throat. Fortunately Plague Defense on our feet knocked it out as it always does but I am thinking that most would think it is the flu.

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  8. Autumn and Spring, my two favorite seasons!

    Next week will be spring break here, and I plan on spring cleaning! I can't wait! On my list of things to do is my craft closet :) I love the containers in yours! As always, you've had the most productive week, Annabel! Happy Easter!

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    1. Dear Jenn, Of the whole house my craft cupboard was the worst area by far! I just had stuffed so much random stuff in there knowing it will be useful for something someday! It was like conquering Mt Everest so good luck I hope yours turns out great and you find awesome things in there!
      Have a very happy Easter to your family! With love Annabel.xxx

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  9. You have been on an organizing spree, Annabel! The time invested in that pays off over and over again! I organized just my little junk drawer in the kitchen where things would just “explode” when i would open it! A couple little containers later, I was amazed to find that I have not 1 or 2, but 6 pairs of kitchen scissors! Funny thing is, before I labeled a little bin for them,I could never even find one!!! https://pin.it/hxc4wagxbb5ngt
    I took a few green onions I got from my produce market and, after using their green tops, put in water on my window sill and now have “everlasting “ green onions ! https://pin.it/oh5uunna4xuhcl
    I also decided that I wanted to make up some dry convenience meals where you just add water, meat and maybe 1 other ingredient when you cook them up. To that end, I made up 12 Beef and Barley Soup quart jars, 6 Texas 2 Step Soup pint jars and 3 Country Style Hamburger Stew quart jars. Sorry for bad lighting in this photo and the other shelves not being as organized but,it’s a work in progress! https://pin.it/coj3rraxvfvnwg

    I also made about 130 flannel Kleenex and bundled them into 5-packs. https://pin.it/sime7mdadaeafw And https://pin.it/7dqbv556xqvhu2

    Happy to see that you and other bluebirds are seeing the value of these flannel facial tissue!

    I figured out that our chickens are giving us over 17-1/2 dozen eggs a month! So we have some regular egg customers who will buy 3 or 4 dozen eggs at a time so that has more than paid for our feed!

    Dave just finished a new soap cutter for a friend who sells bars of custom made soaps. Here are 2 photos of what he designed and made her:
    https://pin.it/wl57my3v7mygzh and https://pin.it/ggeo2wxczwlxyn She just put the loaf of soap in and pulls the top down over it and the wires cut it into perfectly uniform bars! I’m pretty impressed with his design and construction skills!!
    Our little business keeps moving along with orders going out and new ones coming in. We have been truly blessed!
    I hope you and all the bluebirds have a wonderful Easter or Passover this weekend!

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    1. I love your flannelettes, Pat and "follow" you now on Pinterest :). Also, what a nifty thing your DH made for the soap-making friend. Sounds so easy to use. Congrats and you are truly blessed! Happy Easter =^^=

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    2. Dear Gardenpat,
      I agree about the organisation. Even the things we find as we go along are a bonus. I have some drawers to be working on this week!
      The soap cutter is very fancy! This might be another thing that could end up being a famous design or invention!
      I really am loving the Kleenex you are making, we say hankies. I like the pretty scalloped edging you give them. This is much nicer than a hem and less bulky. I think they will be a beautiful gift and seller. I noticed in a craft shop near my daughters a lady makes a business making hankies. On each she has a label of her brand name which is "Bless You" which I love! Mimi also made gorgeous tie on tags which made me think I need to do this for the ones that are for gifts. I have some soft flannelette in my supplies too!
      Your chickens are doing wonderfully! I enjoyed seeing them cleaning up your garden beds was lovely too!
      You did lots and had a good week! I hope you have had a lovely Easter. We went to the farm and just got back so now Monday post has happened...
      Have a good new week! With love Annabel.xxx

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  10. Your craft cupboard is beautiful! I showed my husband your beautiful light filled kitchen and we both agree that it would make us happy everyday to eat there in your beautiful room. Harper and Scarlett are adorable. How fun to surprise them with Easter a bit early. We sent cards with stickers inside to Germany and the grandkids were videoed opening them and being excited and then we were wished Happy Easter in German. It made our day so special.

    My husband continues to work on the big painting project. We had some great deals at the grocery stores but the best one was hams for .69 a pound. The entire month has been a big pantry stock up with prices crazy low like quarts of chicken broth this week for 15 cents and cans of beans for 23 cents. There have also been many free items. I am stocked on everything and really hope to get a rest from all the shopping in April.

    I used Amazon gift cards earned on Swagbucks to buy my first Tattler reusable canning lids and rings this week. I am excited to try them and stop having to buy disposables ones. If I am successful with them I will continue to add to my stock with the free gift cards that I earn.

    We are having friends in for Easter. They do not have family near either so we have become family to each other. I set my table yesterday and it was fun pulling out all the things like bunny napkin rings.

    Have a good weekend and a blessed Easter.

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    1. Dear Lana,
      Thank you! I love sunlight!
      Stickers were a great thing to mail. Kids love stickers!
      I cannot get ham at under $3 a pound! So that is a great deal!
      Your pantry sounds well built up. At those prices this is wonderful.
      I think re useable lids are a good thin so I hope they are a success for you.
      I hope you had a beautiful Easter with your friends. How lovely to have good friends like this! I am sure your table settling was beautiful too.
      We went to the farm.. hence no Monday post. Chloe has benefitted from many things you have taught me and I gave her Hopewell oils and mixtures for Easter which she loved! Thank you! With love Annabel.xxx

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    2. What a wonderful Easter gift for Chloe! You are such a thoughtful Mom to your girls.

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  11. The girls are so beautiful. The batteries are great to have around. We go thru so many if we have a black out. I know what you mean about cleaning the vacuum cleaner. But it really does help it work better. We have a dog so I try to clean it every 3 months. Have a wonderful Easter

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    1. Thank you very much! Yes suddenly when something goes wrong it is easy to need a lot of batteries fast!
      I was pretty disgusted when came out of the big vac... I also have a smaller hand vac and that wasnt so bad. I am so glad I did them and the filters etc.
      I hope you have had a lovely Easter! With love Annabel.xxx

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  12. I cleaned my vacuum cleaner last week. I thought something was wrong with it but when I took out the bag, I realized there was a lot more there than I thought (I don't have to use it a lot). The kids had borrowed it to clean their rugs before they moved and I'd forgotten about that.

    It was simply that the bag was way too full and I had to pull excess stuff out of the filler tube. I put a new bag in and then adjusted the setting of how high it ran over carpeting and it worked like new. It's from the 1990s but it was an expensive brand back then so I am so glad a good cleaning fixed the problem. Oh, I LOVE the change over from hot to cool in Fall. Now we are just waiting the end of winter here and it seems endless.

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    1. Dear Brenda,
      Cleaning a rug could really fill up a vacuum bag! So that was an easy solution. We always got in trouble with Mum if we filled up the bag lol
      We really had that lovely cool feel of Autumn especially in the evenings. And sun shine in the day. Has been so nice. Summer did seem endless for us too as winter has felt for you! This is when the change of season is especially nice! I hope you had a lovely Easter! With love, Annabel.xxx

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  13. Hi Annabel and everyone,

    Oh, I love the pretty containers you used to organize! It all looks so nice. It was kind of a light week for us, but I do have some small efforts to report.

    Cooking and food: All work lunches and snacks were brought from home. ($150 savings on lunches, I would say $40 on healthy snacks.)

    Household: There was a sale on plants and seeds at the farm store, so I bought a 6-pack of annuals for $2.88 and divided them into pots. They will fill the pots in a little while and we can enjoy them all summer. One pot that had already filled was for sale for $13, so I am happy with two pots for $2.88! They had a lovely big aloe plant with two aloe babies started in the same pot, for $6, so that came home with us and was repotted as well. The store also had cushions for outdoor furniture for $10 less per cushion than anywhere else I have seen. Since our own cushions finally deteriorated past the point of repair last year, we purchased 4 new ones for our outdoor chairs, saving $40. My husband sold our old microwave oven (works perfectly well, we just splurged and got a new one to match the new appliances and hood in the kitchen - oh, and the money for the new microwave came from a Craigslist sale!) to a young woman with a new baby. $20 for us and a perfectly working appliance for her. Love the idea that these things find new life and purpose with others. He had set it up on a table in the garage with an outlet and a cup of water so that she could test it out and see that it worked. Love that man. :)

    Entertainment: Lots of reading from our home library; we have been enjoying slowing down and spending evenings after work reading together with a cup of hot tea.

    Personal care and education: I did get my husband's virus, but it has not been nearly as bad for me as it was for him. Still definitely appreciated our food and medicine pantries, and having extra sets of towels and bed linens (bought on sale last year). It is really comforting to just grab what you need and pop back into bed or curl up on the couch. Since it was nice and warm again, my husband threw open all the windows and vacuumed the carpets - I really think that makes a big difference in vanquishing illness, too.

    Crafts/gifts:
    I finished my worsted-weight lace shawl! It needs blocked, as do my others, but I like it already.

    I hope everyone has a great weekend!
    Kathy

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    1. Dear Kathy,
      You did well in the plant sale. I really need to get an Aloe... I used to have one and lost it at some point.
      How nice your microwave went to someone lovely needing one. I agree this is much better and recycling.
      I hope you are feeling much better. I think too fresh air and sunshine are great. And rest.
      I hope you will take a photo of your shawl! I would love to see!
      We went away to the farm over Easter which is why no post today, we just got home late afternoon. It was beautiful weather and we had dinner with Like and his parents and Chloe. And met the puppy who is really so good and well behaved! I hope you had a great Easter! With love Annabel.xxx

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  14. Dear Annabel,
    Harper and Scarlett are adorable! They seem to be enjoying their Easter treats. We have a tradition of supplying the filled eggs for the Easter egg hunt at Easter dinner with our family and friends. We've done it so long that many of the children are either grown up or don't live close enough to be here. We save most of the plastic eggs from year to year after the kids have emptied their goodies from them. We're ready for this year, but on a smaller scale. Your organized craft supplies, jewelry and batteries look great! I'm sure you will enjoy having them so accessible. We are continuing working on renovating a spare bedroom. Although the progress is slow, it is good to see. I went to several stores this week to take advantage of their specials and coupons. Along with the usual Friday free items, a protein bar and chocolate egg, I got a free bottle of hot sauce and bag of snack chips. There were some good prices on melons, too. I found 2 summery dresses on sale for 50% off. The sales associate gave me a coupon for an additional 15 % off and I had loaded an e-coupon for $3 off, making the dresses quite reasonable. Dresses are cooler than dress pants in our summer heat. I enjoy reading your comments about the cooler weather coming since we are the opposite and dreading the heat. We still have flowers blooming, lettuce and tomatoes producing and the last of the tangelos to pick for eating fresh or juicing.
    I hope you and the other Bluebirds have a wonderful Easter!
    Love from Arizona,
    Elaine

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    1. Dear Elaine,
      What a nice tradition you have! The Easter egg hunt is so much fun and it was exciting to have a Grandchild old enough to be into it now!
      We have had perfect Autumn weather. Summer seemed to last forever and Im so glad its gone! Its a relief but we do need rain now also.
      I hope you had a lovely Easter. We just got back from the farm so I have not posted. But it was a beautiful weekend! With love Annabel.xxx

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  15. Annabel,
    Your craft cupboard looks spectacular! Very neat and organized. And the girls are so cute! I love that Harper has blonde hair and Scarlett's is dark. Since we have both I told my son the new baby needs to be a red head. It looks like he's going to be a big boy so when he comes in May I guess we'll see.
    I cleaned my vacuum a few weeks ago when we had a nice day. I blew it all out with the air hose and it always picks up so much better after. It saves on having to replace the filters too.
    I had bananas to use so I made your banana muffins. They are really good! And they are gone! LOL I used offers and points and got $121 worth of items free which added to the gift cupboard, water storage and emergency supplies. I got $3 worth of samples in the mail and saved $3 with coupons. I didn't buy much so the $3 was actually quite a bit. We got $100 worth of free wood in 2 days and I earned a $5 Amazon gift card for a survey. Our ladies are still giving us plenty of eggs and I saved $28 o marked down meat. Not a bad week, but any kind of savings is good!
    Sewing Creations- I would love to see your gardens please!
    XOXO
    Vicky

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    1. Dear Vicky, Sewingcreations has promised photos so Im happy about this!
      I am glad you like that recipe. They are pretty healthy really and freeze well... and can be muffins, cakes or a big slab of cake too.
      Well done on a big week. This is all adding up very nicely! With much love, Annabel.xxx

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  16. Good morning Annabel. I love seeing all your after organizing photos. I worked this week on my clothes and I then I moved on to grandchildren clothes we keep here. It was a big job, sorting out for 8 sizes and from winter to summer but I’m so glad it’s done!

    Love the photos of your pretty granddaughters ❤️

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    1. Dear Rhonda, That is a big job! It is so great you keep clothes at your house. My Mum always did that for my kids. We had spares of everything!
      I hope you had a wonderful Easter! With love, Annabel.xxx

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  17. Hi Annabel,and bluebirds,Annabel Harper and Scarlett are so cute you must be so proud, and your kitchen is so pretty Today while out on a drive i bought a olive tree so hope it will do good not only for the leaves & olives but also as a hedge for privacy around the garden,i have never had one before so will keep you posted on how it goes,we also had a big clean up of the garden and cut back some trees.
    have a Happy Easter to you and your family xx

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    1. Dear Melissa, An olive tree will be lovely. They seem to grow in warm sunny and dry places. We have them everywhere here and our climate is like Greece where they naturally thrive.
      I hope you had a very Happy Easter! We went to the farm so I am catching up now! With love, Annabel.xxx

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  18. Hi again,

    Just a quick comment re cleaning vacuum cleaners. My son was driving home one afternoon and spied a Dyson cleaner out for a council cleanup, so he stopped and brought it home thinking he might be able to get it going. Before he tried it, he cleaned and washed all the filters, let them dry and when he turned it on, he found it worked just as well as their own Dyson! Bonus!

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    1. Wow that was a find! These are expensive. I know though people will toss something out as it doesnt work and all it is might be a filter or minor thing! Awesome!

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  19. Hello lovely Annabel and beautiful Bluebirds, I am sorry for my lack of replies, but I have been reading with keen interest. I love the Easter egg hunt with Harper, how gorgeous is Harper and Scarlett! I loved Easter. We had a lovely Easter lunch. H was very cute with finding his chocolate (we made Easter boxes out of recycled cardboard with him). I LOVE the batteries and the makeup storage...I need to get myself some of these drawers....now the possibilities are endless....batteries, make up, first aid...etc. Your craft cupboard looks so neat too. We have made use of the sun with drying our washing, and going to the beach, and bush walks. H is getting to an age where he enjoys the outdoors. I purchased a lovely little needle case for a friend's birthday and am dabbling in crochet again...I am determined to master it and keep you in mind, 5 minutes a day adds up with learning. Lots of love, Bridge

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I really appreciate your comments thank you! The aim of my blog is the be a place of encouragement and happiness. Very rarely is anyone rude. Actually only twice so far! If you post a rude or aggressive comment I will read it but not publish it, thanks for understanding.xxx

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